Some Outdoor Fun

We spent as much time outside as we could this weekend. What beautiful weather to welcome the first day of summer! I hope summer stays FOREVER. :)

Every time I see this picture, the word "joy" just pops in my head. This photo (all were taken by L, of course) just made me realize how blessed we are to have such a wonderful life, and such an amazing daughter to remind us of that!
E's footprints in the sand. Aren't those little feet cutest little feet?!! So precious. :)
This is E's favorite thing about the beach. Rocks. She loves picking them up, feeling them, throwing them in the water, putting them in her mouth, carrying them around. She's so curious. All of the time.

Hope that you all had a lovely start to summer!!!

Wonder

Our weekend was full of sunshine, laziness, and bike rides (I rode over 20 miles in two days!). Our church had their anniversary service yesterday, and the message was very convicting. The pastor spoke about how we need to maintain a sense of wonder about our faith, much like a child approaches life. E loves to go outside and explore the smallest details - rocks, dirt, a pinecone. I'm praying that my sense of wonder will return - that I will believe and expect God to do big things, yet take so much joy in the smaller details, like my girl does.



The weekend was pretty much spent at the beach - with picnics and ice cream. Yes, our child loves ice cream (what kid doesn't though, right?). Admittedly, there are moments when I miss life downstate, but this weekend's beauty reminded me of how blessed we are to be surrounded by God's amazing creation.

Okay, back to reality and chores. My house needs a serious cleaning.

Life

Well, we made some progress last night with dinner. L loves thai and chinese food, so I made a thai vegetarian dish (modified a bit: we added chicken). I knew it'd be a hit with the husband, but didn't really plan on the kiddo eating any of it. What do you know... she loved it! She ate the broccoli, potatoes, carrots, and yes, even the chicken... all with the green curry. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

So this is how we've been spending much of the kiddo's awake time. She knows the word "outside" and will cry until we go out there. I haven't minded that much - I'd much rather be playing in the sun, too. My goal: to start studying different birds and trees, so when the babe is older we can start identifying them.

So my kid can climb up stairs. I wonder how long she's been able to do this?

This was the perfect ending to my nine mile bike ride last night. It's grapefruit tea, and boy, is it yummy! In fact, maybe I'll go make some in a little bit.

Red Grapefruit Tea (Martha Stewart's site):

A red grapefruit, squeezed
1 - 2 tbs. honey
1/2 tsp. allspice berries (I just used cloves)
1 Cinnamon stick
1/2 C. of water

Put all ingredients in pot and bring to a boil. Strain tea and enjoy.

Yesterday we took our little tyke outside, for the first "big" snowstorm in December. In fact, it was heavy enough to close most of the northern Michigan schools. Anyway, we went outside - we bundled her up in her snow pants, shoes, hat, coat and sat her in the snow. This was the result. :)